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2015 | Buch

The Evolution of Innovation Networks

An Automotive Case Study

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Über dieses Buch

Tobias Buchmann analyzes innovation network dynamics in the German automotive industry. The study is based on a model for analyzing the complex evolution of innovation networks and the driving mechanisms underlying network evolution derived from theoretical and empirical findings in innovation economics, economic geography and management science. The author uses established social network analysis (SNA) techniques and combines them with recent methodological developments in the analysis of network evolution.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
1. Introduction
Abstract
Intellectual nourishment is a typical and well-accepted diet for doctoral students. However, the growling of the stomach is often an unambiguous signal that food of a more solid variety is called for. Following this call, you may pass by a supermarket on your way home from the office. Myself, always appreciative of la cucina italiana, I often decide to grab some spaghetti, a string bag of garlic and onions, a cup of cream and some ham. If you have olive oil and basil at home, all ingredients are kept at hand to prepare a simple but nice spaghetti dish with a ham-cream sauce.
Tobias Buchmann
2. Innovation and Industry Dynamics
Abstract
Schumpeter (1911) puts innovation in the center of his theory of economic development. In the beginning, he linked innovative success purely to the entrepreneurial success of outstanding individuals in an economy. Thirty years later, Schumpeter (1942) – inspired by the development of US industries – identified a significant change in the organization of R&D processes in specialized R&D laboratories of large firms (routinized innovation). And another forty years later, again a significant change had taken place in the organization of R&D.
Tobias Buchmann
3. Methodological Framework
Abstract
This chapter deals with the fundamental ideas governing the analysis and interpretation of innovation-economic data as well as with the development of a model for explaining innovation network evolution. In particular, the knowledge-based approach and evolutionary concepts in economics are depicted. Knowledge is a peculiar kind of resource and played an important role for the development and performance of economies throughout all times.
Tobias Buchmann
4. Cooperative Firm Behavior
Abstract
The innovation process of a firm gets fuelled by internal and external sources. First, scientists and engineers of a firm explore new combinations and exploit new knowledge for the development of new products and processes. This is linked to R&D units which have increasingly become permeable and connected to other departments, such as marketing or directly to customers (Von Hippel, 1988; Chesbrough, 2003). Second, knowledge and new ideas can be accessed externally through links to other actors.
Tobias Buchmann
5. Concepts of Descriptive Network Analysis
Abstract
Differing positions in a network are linked to operational opportunities or limitations, especially with regard to access to knowledge. It is not only advantageous to be a member of a network but it is also important to find the right place in the network, most of the time preferably a central position that allows for absorbing the latest developments. Furthermore, evolutionary dynamics is not a phenomenon which is limited to firms or technologies, but also networks change their structure over time. Consequently, the position of actors in the network changes.
Tobias Buchmann
6. Towards a Dynamic Framework of Network Analysis
Abstract
“Classic” cross-sectional network analysis, as presented in chapter 5, captures the development state of a network at a certain point in time, i.e. it takes a snapshot of the status quo. This allows for studying the structural characteristics of the network and the positioning and embeddedness of individual actors. There is meanwhile a large body of established literature which applies this type of analysis, but there are also shortcomings with this approach. Even though we may conclude from SNA in combination with a correlation analysis that a certain network related correlation exists, the direction of causality is often very ambiguous.
Tobias Buchmann
7. Determinants of Network Evolution
Abstract
Evolutionary thinking in a network context emerged only recently on the research agenda. For instance, Glückler (2007) addresses the question how tie selection constitutes an evolutionary process in networks. More precisely, he argues that network tie selection processes cause retention and variation within network structures. Hite (2008) presents an evolutionary multi-dimensional model of network change that explicitly considers micro level network change processes. Witt (2006) argues that selection processes are, in line with Neo-Schumpeterian approaches, constitutive for evolutionary economics. Studies on the evolution of network structures have typically focused on external factors (e.g. competitive pressure) as drivers for change processes.
Tobias Buchmann
8. Patenting
Abstract
Patents serve as a rich source of information about inventions (and innovations). A large patent pool is a signal for a high level of competence and knowledge in one or more technology fields. Patents function therefore as an attractor for the search of a cooperation partner. A patent is a legal title granting its holder the exclusive right to make use of an invention for a limited area and time by preventing others from making, using or selling it without permission. In return, it forces the inventor to reveal the technical details of the invention.
Tobias Buchmann
9. An Automotive Innovation Network
Abstract
In this chapter, I first describe characteristics and challenges of German automotive suppliers and manufactures followed by an analysis of the structure of their collective knowledge-base, focusing on e-mobility technologies. Second, I introduce a model for the analysis of evolutionary change patterns of an interfirm innovation network (Pyka and Fagiolo, 2005; Pyka and Hanusch, 2006) which consists of a sample of German automotive firms. A stochastic actor-based model is applied to estimate parameters which reflect the impact of hypothesized effects.
Tobias Buchmann
10. Discussion and Further Research Avenues
Abstract
Neo-Schumpeterian scholars suggest that we focus on the analysis of the knowledge-bases of firms and their role for entrepreneurial activities and managerial decisions if we want to understand patterns of industry change. Thus, the knowledge-based view of the firm paves the ground for the analysis of innovation network evolution. Evolutionary theory is very rich and offers a broad variety of concepts which have the potential for being applied in an (innovation) economic framework. Competitive pressure forces firms to continuously develop new ideas, invent new technologies and bring new products to the market in order to prevail on the field of creative destruction.
Tobias Buchmann
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
The Evolution of Innovation Networks
verfasst von
Tobias Buchmann
Copyright-Jahr
2015
Electronic ISBN
978-3-658-10383-5
Print ISBN
978-3-658-10382-8
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-10383-5

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